Donna Martinez

Amidst all the Democratic party hand wringing last week, you probably missed the N&O's coverage of the gubernatorial debate. In which case, you also missed the N&O's irresponsible inclusion of Art Pope Puppet Donna Martinez among the pundits who commented on the winners and losers.

It's bad enough that the N&O can't be bothered to find independent experts for this sort of thing. But it's doubly dumb to turn to the wife of one of their columnists, who also happens to be affiliated with the John Locke Foundation, and then fail to disclose that affiliation.

The article refers to Martinez as a senior political correspondent with the Curtis Media Group. And, of course, there was no mention of her long-standing ties to the Show.

Chalk one up for Art Pope's multimillion dollar opinion manufacturing machine.